Ep. 13 – Confessions of an AI Explorer Artwork

The AI Upgrade

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Each week, hosts Peter Bittner & Kris Krug chat with experts, founders, journalists, and technologists to understand the trends and impacts of AI on media. Interested in understanding the impacts of AI and other next-gen technologies on how we create, distribute, and access stories? The AI Upgrade is for you!

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Ep. 13 – Confessions of an AI Explorer

May 30, 2024 • Peter Bittner • Episode 13

Wes Shields started his new venture, Synthminds, almost by accident. A rather obsessive interest with exploring AI inspired him to offer his knowledge as an AI consultant on Upwork. To his surprise, the company eventually promoted him on their platform as one of the world’s “top AI experts” – that’s Upwork’s words, not his. Shields went on to found the AI consulting company Synthminds, which helps organizations and individuals better understand AI. In this week’s episode of The Upgrade, Wes and Peter have an unhinged conversation about the latest developments in AI.

Show Notes:

(1:55) How Wes started a successful AI consulting business almost by accident

(5:28) Goda Go, the Queen of AI

(7:37) Like driving a car: How Wes approaches teaching clients about AI

(10:09) Wes describes the courses Synthminds offers

(13:28) The different consulting and AI development projects that Synthminds offers

(16:35) Wes explains what Auto-GPTs are

(18:35) What aspects of AI Wes thinks have been correctly hyped

(20:30) Why you should be wary of prompt lists

(21:24) The problem with universities betting that AI content detectors can detect plagiarism

(30:54) What voice actors have to gain from AI

(32:39) AI’s capability to create 3D